A Tradition of Comfort Food with Flair - original recipes, including gluten-free, nondairy, vegan and vegetarian as well as those for omnivores; classic comfort food prepared with care and the finest seasonal, sustainable and organic ingredients.

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16 June 2011

London broil is great for broiling or outdoor grilling, but I wanted to see what I could do with it in a frying pan. London broil can be other cuts of meat, but at Rocky Mountain Organic Meats it is a 2- to 3-inch-thick, 1- to 1.5-pound piece of top round. (I didn't weigh it, but it seemed like more than the 1 pound marked on the label. But I'm not complaining!)

Since it's a lean cut, marinating is recommended. (And, since it's a lean cut, I felt I could go a little crazy with the butter in the sauce! But more about that later.) I marinated it for about 7 hours, but I'm sure a shorter time or a longer time would have been fine. A total of 30 minutes in the pan gave me medium. You can adjust the time to suit your preferred degree of doneness. And if you're using a different cut that is thinner, you won't want to cook it quite so long.

I know this dish would look so much better with a sprinkling of flat-leaf parsley, but I haven't managed to revive my herb garden yet and I refuse to pay big bucks for another bunch of parsley that will go bad before I can use it all. But you be sure to garnish it properly! (Did you notice my feeble attempt at fluting that one whole mushroom?)

1 Combine marinade ingredients in glass dish. I used a Pyrex loaf pan because it most closely matched the size and shape of the meat. Place meat in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for about 4 hours, turning meat over a couple times.

3 Thoroughly dry the marinated meat with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. The oil should be shimmering in the hot pan.

4 Place meat in the pan. Cook over medium-high heat, not moving the meat, until well browned, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, turn meat; cook 5 minutes. Turn steaks again and reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Turn once more and cook for another 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes or so while making the sauce.

Oh, Jean, that looks.... AMAZING! I just want to dive right into that plate. Delicious!

(p.s..I made the fudge ripple ice cream last weekend.. oh my was it so very good.. my pictures didn't turn out that great so I might have to make another batch so i get a better picture so I can post it... darn it!!! lol)

"…fluting a mushroom"? Sounds kinky. Not sure I want to go down that road. Well, I suppose the ice cream had to end, but if it did, my carnivore incarnation is ready to take on a well-marinated cut of McCow. Rarely see a London broil I like, but the operative word here is "rare," and you've presented a really compelling dish, Jeani. Last week I made a killer batch of stroganoff, which, like London broil, is all but inedible to me unless it's marinated properly. You got it, kid! I may even try to flute that mushroom. Where do you get the music for that?

Judy, thanks! Wish I had an heirloom cast-iron skillet. Can't think what happened to it when my dad died. But I have my mother's good stainless cookware (the 1940s/50s version of All-Clad) and think of her every time I use it.

Sully, I took the "music" right out of my head. For official instructions on how to properly flute a mushroom, see the book I reviewed in this post: http://delightfulrepast.blogspot.com/2011/01/winter-salad-and-book-review-complete.html. It's a great book!

have you ever been to the loire? The vineyards there use caves in the limestone cliffs that line the river valley. These caves have been extended and tunnelled to create vast caverns to store millions, probably billions of bottles of wine, maturing slowly. In amongst the vats and the bottles they grow mushrooms as a side line. There many restaurants in the Loire Valley that do the most exquisite mushroom dishes. It's always the sauce that goes on the meal with the French isn't it!!!!!!!! And, of course a nice bottle of wine.

This has got me thinking . Must book my summer holiday. France beckons.

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Here you'll find original recipes that warm the body and the soul, recipes of the sort to become a family tradition in your family as well as mine. And I go outside the purview of food blogs with the occasional article about tea, wine and travel.